Her Shining Light
by XX-Samantha-XX
Summary: Ziva and Tony’s final scene, will they admit their feelings for each other? Major character death.


_Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine and never will be…sigh. _

_Ziva and Tony's final scene, will they admit their feelings? __**Major character death.**_

**Her Shining Light **

The shot was fired straight at her, but the pain never came. She found herself falling upon the ground, but no actual pain from a bullet. A cacophony of sound followed; echoes of the shot, a soft grunt, the thud of a body and the beating of her own heart, shouted orders. Everything all at once she wasn't sure what had come first. Looking across at who was lying on the ground next to her.

_Tony._

She fought the urge to scream at him for being so damn stupid, for playing the hero like all those people in the movies that he watched, and composed herself enough to crawl over to him, had to make sure he'd live. He couldn't do this to her now. Not when she had finally decided what she wanted.

"Tony?" But it wasn't her voice that she heard, it sounded so lost, so desperate to her ears. It shook, trembled, and wavered in fear and worry.

Looking upon him; his eyelids fluttered, the eyes beneath a pained emerald green. Her own emotions mirrored in them; concern, fear, doubt, and love. Each one as strong as the last; but each one fading, slipping away with the light that his eyes always held. A warm, safe, comforting light, like none other she had seen or felt.

His lips moved, in an action to talk but found no voice. Frowning for the effort of doing something he did everyday and pretty much all day. She found her self kneeling, a warm substance creeping through her pant leg, leaning in close so she could hear his whispered, strained question.

"Are you okay?" His voice was barely there but it was his, strong, sure; just like the person she faced everyday and hoped to face everyday for years to come.

She moved away, just staring at him. How could he ask that when he was the one lying on the ground, his life slipping away from him, covering her. How could he ask if _she_ was okay? How could he still wear that agonised smile just to comfort her? But then…that's who he was and that was why she'd found her self loving him more each day. He was just simply him.

And he was hers.

"I am fine, Tony." She tried to speak back, her words being lost on the choked sob that came from deep within her.

Looking at him as his skin lost the tan colour that she also loved about him she awaited the sounds that heralded the ambulance that she had called as soon as the shot had been heard. The team, Gibbs and McGee were chasing the guy that had aimed the weapon at her. _Her, damn it._ It shouldn't be him lying here, it should be her. She should be the one hurt, the one protecting him.

But then that wasn't who he was and that wasn't why she loved him. He was selfless. Oh he could act like a child, always joking and pulling pranks, lightening all the dark days they had. He was a shining light in all the murky darkness, a beacon, showing them all the way through, the way back to normal.

And he was _her_ bright, shining beacon.

His eyes closed and another trickle of blood escaped, trailing downwards across his cheek, matching the path of the larger trickle of blood from his side, it didn't stop, not even with her hands grasping at it, keeping him together. The tears escaping her own eyes, diluting the blood on his face, making it pink rather than the colour of blood. Almost leading her to believe that it was all an illusion, and hopeless one, but one she could hold on to for now.

He was so much more than the illusion he pretended to be, beneath the pranks, jokes and childish ways, he was a man. Strong but gentle. Firm but loving. Scared but fearless. A perfect walking contradiction.

But he was _her_ gentle, loving, fearless, perfect walking contradiction.

She couldn't help it as a soft plea escaped her quivering lips.

"Please don't…please stay." Again her voice didn't sound her own, sounded broken, stuttering and fearful. He kept on looking at her, softly, only with love in his eyes, the fear and pain receding as the light was surely leaving. His blood cooling around her, congealing and she knew help wouldn't get to them soon enough but she could still hope, couldn't she. _Couldn't she!_

His only response, a barely there, harshly whispered and hitching "I'm sorry."

And she was losing.

The light was fading, faltering, extinguishing like a flame and she couldn't stop it.

Oh how she wanted to, she wanted a lot. Wanted to tell him how he was hers, how she loved him for who he was, how she couldn't possibly live without him. How she wanted him to say the words back to her. But she couldn't, wouldn't make him say the words she had known when he had come to rescue her. She couldn't admit the words only to lose again.

Though she knew, just knew that he would not let go until he had admitted what she already knew.

And it scared her.

Ziva, _his_ little ninja assassin. Scared to love and then to lose, scared of being alone, just like him.

That's why neither had said it before, not directly, they were the same. Scared to love, estranged from their families, scared of hurting the other. And that is why they were so prefect together; they could understand each others fears and doubts. They wouldn't have to question hesitant actions; they'd just know and would move past it.

They were like two twirling leaves falling from a tree in perfect harmony and time with each other, attached, only to get torn away when they crumpled and were strewn across the ground by the feet of others, to be trodden on and that would, eventually, to be disintegrated by the frost in the winter. And there would never again be those same two twirling leaves, swaying softly in time with each other on the warming spring breeze.

Her heart, which had slowed down in time with his, started to pump faster at the sound she could hear on the wind. Hope racing through her own cooling blood. Her heart soaring at the chance it may be on time. Her head fighting with it, saying it was too late. She knew, she'd seen and caused a lot of death. She knew in her heart that she was losing but that didn't make it any easier. _Not really._

Slowly as his eyes were closing, her heart was tearing within her chest, shredding painfully at her being, eating away at her soul.

And she couldn't do anything.

Couldn't save him, couldn't save the rest from the pain of losing him.

_Nothing._

She could beg and plead, cry and shout but it wouldn't save him, not now, not ever.

He signalled her weakly closer, keeping his eyes open for a moment longer to say what they wouldn't admit unless it was the end of everything.

And then her shining beacon was adrift on the sea, lost in the dark horizon.

Her shining light extinguished before her eyes.

All to save her.

And she spoke the final words he would hear from _his_ little ninja assassin.

"_I love you too." _

The End

_Okay well I hope you all won't kill me for that but it just came out. As always please review!! _


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